Here With You but Without You
by Ali-Chan1
Summary: Chris rapes Haley. Is Nathan and Haley's marriage strong enough for Nathan to help her through this or will Haley push him to far away?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Okay this story was started forever agobut I've just decided to post it. It was started over Christmas so it's set during the hiatus...but Haley did get on the bus...like it was started back when we didn't know...

* * *

"Lucas?" Haley's voice over Lucas' cell phone sounds timid, scared and small, three things Lucas Scott had never heard in his best friends voice.

"Hales?" Lucas questions quickly, "where the hell are you?" Haley had disappeared twelve hours before and nobody had heard from her and Lucas knew that Nathan was worried sick.

"New-New York C-city," Haley stutters out.

"What? Haley, are you okay?" Lucas asks quickly. "Why are you in New York?"

"I..." Haley falters, "can you come get me."

"Of course," Lucas responds immediately knowing Haley would explain everything when she wasn't in a strange city. "Nathan and I will drive up as soon as possible."

"No," Haley's response is sharp. "Not Nathan."

"But Haley he's worried sick about you."

"Please Luke, don't bring Nathan with you, I can't bare to see him right now."

"But..."

Haley's plea is heartbreaking and Lucas can't help but give in, "fine. But I at least have to tell him that I'm coming to get you."

When Haley begins speaking again Lucas can hear the tears in her voice, "please just hurry Luke, please." She manages out a couple more sentences explaining to Lucas the location of the hotel she was staying in.

Already on his way to Nathan and Haley's apartment, where everyone was meeting back up after breaking up into groups to search for Haley, Lucas drives faster glad to at least have news that he'd heard from Haley. Walking into the apartment Nathan, Peyton, Brooke and Jake's faces fall at the sight of Lucas alone.

"We're not having any luck," Peyton states. "I think we need to call the police, in case something happened to her."

"Don't." Lucas stops her, "she called me. She's fine, she wants me to come get her."

"She called _you_?" Nathan's expression is a mixture of confusion and joy. "I'll come with you to get her."

Lucas sighs, "she said she didn't want you to come."

"What?"

"She wouldn't say why, just let me go up and get here and bring her home."

"But she's my wife," Nathan's voice and expression is one of pain.

"I know," Lucas nods, "but she asked that I come without you."

Brooke's eyes dart back and forth between Nathan and Lucas before she states, "we should go. Lucas, call us when you get back with her okay?" Quietly the three slip out of the apartment to leave the two brother's alone.

"She's leaving me, isn't she Lucas? That's what this is all about, right? She's leaving me for Chris and she doesn't have the nerve to do it herself so she sent you to do it for her."

Lucas shakes his head, pained by the expression on his brother's face, "she didn't say that. She just wants me to come get her, she's probably just ashamed to have made you worry. And it's probably about something dumb and Haley like and she'll have a funny story to tell about it in the end."

* * *

Lucas ended up flying to New York, he'd explained the situation to his mother and Karen was clearly worried about the usually so level headed Haley James-Scott picking up and leaving town without a word to anyone and had offered the money for the flight. The entire flight Lucas spent trying to convince himself that it was just some stupid Haley thing, but the more he thought about it the more Haley's voice wasn't the Haley he had known for his entire life.

The motel Haley had directed Lucas to is far from the hospital and gives Lucas enough time to work himself into a mild panic attack. And upon reaching the motel room and knocking twice without an answer Lucas was in the middle of a complete panic attack. Pounding on the door once more Lucas calls out, "Hales? Haley it's Lucas, you in there?"

"Lucas?" Haley's voice is almost inaudible.

"Haley, it's me, come on, open the door."

There's a fumbling on the other side of the door before it's finally opened to reveal Haley, deathly pale where she's not red from scratches or black and blue with bruises. "Oh God, Hales, what happened to you?"

"Lucas," Haley whispers before collapsing, sobbing, into Lucas' arms.

"Oh God Haley, what happened?" Lucas' eyes lock on Haley's watery ones.

"He...I..." Haley takes several ragged breathes before adding, "I said..."

"It's okay, shh," Lucas' soothes gently knowing exactly what had happened. "Shh, it's okay, it's all going to be okay, we'll get you to a doctor. It'll be okay, shh." Every instinct in Lucas' body wants to find Chris and kill him, but instead he pulls Haley to him tightly as she sobs. "We need to get you to a hospital, okay?"

"No," Haley shakes her head. "I don't..."

"Hales, we have to get you to a doctor...there needs to be proof..." Lucas struggles for the words, not knowing what to say to make her stop crying.

"No," Haley shakes her head again, "I just want to go home. Please Luke, just take me home."

"Haley you really need to..."

"Luke, please I can't be here anymore, please take me home."

Lucas finally caves, "my mom got us a flight back to Tree Hill. But we should really..."

"I just want to go home," Haley lets out a shaking breath.

Lucas takes out a long breath, "we have a flight out in an hour and a half. Do you have a bag or something?"

"No, I-I don't have anything. I just, I..."

* * *

By the time they get to the airport they only have about 15 minutes before they are going to start boarding the plane and Haley is tucked gently under Lucas's arm. "I have to call Nathan, let him know we're coming home."

Haley, who had momentarily stopped crying, has a fresh round of tears in her eyes at Lucas' words, "Luke, I...I can't talk to him. He...he's going to hate me forever."

"Oh Hales, no," for what felt like the millionth time in just a few short hours Lucas' heart breaks at just a few simple words.

"He...he..." Haley mumbles the word but she has no others to accompany it.

"It's all right," Lucas whispers. "I'm just going to call him and let him know we're on our way home. Okay, you don't even have to talk to him until you're ready right?"

* * *

Nathan sinks a shot into a hoop at the riverside court with Peyton standing on the sidelines, "it seems like all we've been doing lately is fighting. I wouldn't blame her for wanting to leave me, all I've done is act like a jealous asshole for the last couple of weeks, because of the whole Chris thing."

Peyton grabs, and holds, Nathan's rebound as she states, "she didn't leave you. Nathan, don't jump to conclusions until you've actually talked to Haley. She loves you, and Lucas is right she probably has a logical explanation for wanting Lucas there."

Peyton's attempt at reassuring Nathan is interrupted by Nathan's cell phone ringing, despite the fact that it says Lucas's cell on the caller ID Nathan asks, "Haley?"

"Nate, it's Luke." Lucas' voice sounds strained on the other line. "I've got Haley with me, we're getting on a plane in fifteen minutes. It should be another two hours before our plane gets in soon. Nate she's..."

"Luke is she okay?"

"She's..."

"Lucas!" Nathan uses his brother's name as a demand for answers.

"She was with Chris," the words Lucas' says are slow and drawn out.

The feeling that rises up in Nathan isn't one of jealousy because in his heart Nathan knows that whatever had happened to Haley was something more complicated than basic jealousy. "What happened?"

"Nate she was..." Lucas stops unable to tell his brother that his wife had been raped.

"I'm going to kill the fucking bastard," Nathan utters the words without an ounce of untruth.

"Nate, we'll be home in three and a half hours. Meet me at my house, I need to talk to you before see her."

"Dammit Luke, you can't keep me from her, she's my wife."

"She's afraid to see you right now," Lucas admits immediately. "We'll be at my house in three and a half hours, meet us there. Don't come to the airport."

"Lucas..."

"I'm serious Nate, my house three and a half hours."

* * *

"Haley we should take you to the doctor," Lucas attempts the tired statement for what seems to be the millionth time between the flight and the drive from Raleigh to Tree Hill.

As if drawing strength from being back in her home environment Haley states firmly, "I am _not_ going to the doctor."

"Hales, to press charges..."

"I'm not pressing charges," Haley's words are less strong this time and with them she falls silently into her own world for the rest of the ride to Tree Hill.

When they pull into the driveway of Lucas' house Karen comes out to greet them and Lucas can see Nathan from the window. Karen immediately rushes to Haley's side and slipping a supportive arm around Haley's waist, "come on sweetie, let's get you inside." Turning to her son Karen places a gentle hand on his cheek and whispers, "I'll take it from here. You should probably talk to Nathan."

Once inside the house Lucas heads straight for his bedroom to find Nathan with his fist embedded in the wall. Facing his brother Nathan apologizes, "I just..."

Lucas nods, "I know."

"Lucas she's so..." At the sight of the tears swimming in his brother's eyes Lucas nearly looses the little control over his emotions.

"I know, but she'll be okay. She's home now."

"Shouldn't we take her to a doctor?" Nathan demands, "she should be checked out...she should..." And with those words Nathan buries his face in his hands, crying silently.

* * *

"You know I can't force you to see a doctor," Karen sighs, she too was losing the battle that Lucas had tried to wage earlier.

"I know," Haley whispers.

Karen nods sadly, "okay. What can I do?"

Haley bites her lip, "I just want to take a shower and forget all about this."

Karen nods, "okay, you can use my bathroom. I'll let Nathan know what's going on, he's anxious to see you."

Haley's eyes fill with tears again, "I can't see him."

"Haley," Karen places a gentle hand on Haley's shoulder. "He loves you, he wants to take care of you."

Haley bites her lip until she draws blood before responding, "I can't see him. He's never going to be able to look at me in the same way again."

"Oh Haley," Karen lets out a long breath.

"I just...I just can't see him tonight. Please?"

Karen nods, "you can stay here tonight, of course. But you have to see him at some point."

"I know, just, just not tonight."

* * *

"Go home?" Nathan demands.

"That's what she wants you to do." Karen nods.

"And do what, Karen? Kick back, catch some TV and then get some sleep?"

"I know this isn't easy Nathan, but this is what she needs right now. And I know you're worried about her, and she knows that and she knows that you love her but right now she's..." Karen stops, unsure of what exactly the sleeping Haley wants Nathan to know.

"She's afraid to see me, yeah I've heard that. But what I haven't heard is the reason why my wife, who was raped by some son of a bitch, is afraid to see _me_."

"Nathan, she just needs time," tears are in Karen's eyes as she says the words. "Just give her time, let her get some sleep, put things in perspective."

"Karen I love her..."

"I know," Karen nods as she pulls Nathan to her. "And she loves you, there is no question of that, but she's having a hard time right now and I think it's best if you respect her wishes. We'll call you in the morning."

"Nate, I'll take you home." Lucas offers.

Nathan shakes his head, "no, I need to clear my head." And with his words Nathan slams out of the house.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

So first of all, thank you so much for all your reviews they mean a ton to me and they have kept me going on this story I didn't know if I was going to continue...so with that said here's the next chapter...Oh, one more thing...this is going to be a long process for me, it's a very hard and emotional story, so I apologize in advance for the slow pace, but you've been warned...

* * *

"Luke?" Haley whispers into the darkness, standing at Lucas' bedroom door.

Lucas sits up quickly, after Nathan had left the house Haley had slipped into the guest bedroom not wanting to talk to anyone, that had been an hour and a half ago and for that time Lucas had been laying on his bed with the lights off. "Hales, what's up?"

Haley shivers despite her long pajama pants and oversized sweatshirt, "I...I don't want to talk...I just can't be in there by myself. I'm scared Luke, and I don't even know why, I know I'm safe here but..."

Lucas quickly moves off his bed and Haley falls into his embrace, "I know you won't let Chris near me again but all I can think about it is.." Haley stops, her tears choking out her words. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I had a great life and a perfect husband and I fucked it up."

"This isn't your fault, Hales." Lucas responds fiercely.

"Yeah, it is. I never should have gone with Chris, I knew he was into me."

"Haley none of this..."

"Lucas, I don't want to talk about it anymore. I just want to sleep forever."

"I can take the floor if you want to sleep in here?"

"I'm not afraid of you hurting me Lucas," Haley assures. "I just want you to hold me."

"Maybe I could call Nathan?" Lucas offers.

"Luke, I can't see him, stop asking."

"Haley he's not mad at you if..."

"Fine, I'll sleep in the guest room."

"Okay," Lucas surrenders. "I'll stop talking."

"You're my best friend, Luke, and I appreciate your attempt to help, but I'm not ready to see Nathan yet. Please don't force it."

Lucas sighs, "okay."

* * *

"Nathan?" Peyton's voice startles Nathan in the nighttime silence of the River Court.

Nathan glances at Peyton and Jake, "yeah, hey."

"Nathan, shouldn't you be with Haley?" Peyton asks, "she needs you right now, with her, not here getting wasted."

Nathan opens a beer can from the already half drunk case of beer, "you'd think she'd need me with her. But she doesn't want to see me."

"What?" Peyton stares.

Nathan lets out a loud burp, "she told Lucas and then Karen that she doesn't want to see me. Funny, that son of a bitch Chris rapes her and she doesn't want to see _me_."

"Well, you've got to stop drinking," Peyton pulls the can out of Nathan's grip, "and you're going to go home. Jake and I will drive you, and you're going to sleep this off so you're not hung over for when Haley needs you."

"What does she need me for? She has Lucas," Nathan's words are bitter.

"She may not have wanted to see you tonight," Jake states, "but eventually she will need her husband to be there for her. Right now she's probably in shock and it's hard to see you."

"What's so damned hard about seeing me? I'm her husband."

"Nathan, Haley waited until she was married to have sex with you, and Chris just ripped away the part of Haley that she only ever wanted for you." Peyton lets out a long breath, her heart breaking for her friends.

"I promised her when we got married that I'd protect her with my life. No wonder she doesn't want to see me, I should have protected her better. Kept Chris away from her."

"This isn't your fault, there's only one person to blame and that's Chris." Jake pulls Nathan to his feet as he speaks. "Peyton's right, you've got to be okay to see her tomorrow. You've got to be strong for her."

Nathan searches Peyton and Jake's faces, "what if she won't see me?"

"She will," both assure quickly.

"How do you know?"

"She loves you, it's as simple as that."

Nathan's expression crumbles at Jake's words and he buries his face in his hands, "I love her too."

"We know," Peyton states as Jake takes Nathan's elbow and helps him stand. "We know and she knows, let's just get you home."

* * *

Two days. God, had it really only been two days? Haley stares into the steamy mirror in Lucas' bathroom. Two days since Lucas had brought her back from New York. Two days in which she did no moire than alternate between sobs and silence that made Lucas uncomfortable. And two days since she'd seen her husband. Four since she'd spoken to him.

Staring at her reflection Haley shivers, she hardly recognized herself in the mirror. In the period of two, maybe three, days she had lost sight of the person she was. Or maybe it was longer than that. The month since she had gotten to know Chris, since he had tempted her with the life of a musician she wasn't even sure she'd ever wanted in the first place. Or maybe it was longer than that. When she had agreed to tutor Nathan in the first place. She'd done it to protect Lucas and if you had told her a year ago that she would become Haley James Scott in less than a year she wouldn't have believed it. Haley James didn't ever do anything irrational. But she had, and it had worked out for her and Nathan. And that was why she had thought to risk everything with Chris, thought that like the risk she took on Nathan the one on Chris would pay off as well.

Ha. Nathan loved her. Chris had used her. Nathan had wanted all of her. Chris had wanted her body. Chris had gotten in and Haley felt like everything that she had with Nathan was gone.

* * *

"You sure you want to start back at school already?" Lucas checks for what must have been the tenth time.

Haley avoids Lucas' eye contact, "I can't sit around the house anymore."

"So you're okay with seeing Nathan?" Lucas asks.

"Seeing, yes. Speak to, no."

"Haley..."

"Lucas, please just tell him I'm not ready. Please?"

Lucas nods, he's stopped pushing anything on Haley after the night in his bedroom where she had spent the night sleepless but silent. "I'll talk to him."

"Thanks Lucas." Haley takes a deep breath, "I can't thank you enough for everything..."

"Then don't."

* * *

"She's here, at school?" Nathan stares at his brother.

Lucas nods, "she said she can't sit around all day, again. But, she can't see you yet."

Nathan's face falls, "how's she doing, Luke?"

Luke shrugs, "I'm not sure. She doesn't want to talk about it. She spent most of the weekend crying, or being completely silent and not moving. It's scary shit Nathan, really. My mom says we can't force her to talk about it, or see someone to talk about it, she has to come to conclusions on her own. Pushing her is going to make it harder for her, but shit..." Lucas sighs, "I don't know what to do man. I tried suggesting she call her parents, but she doesn't want anyone to know."

Nathan's eyes lock on Haley walking next to Peyton in the hallway and when Lucas turns to see her Nathan states, "I'll go. I'll see you later. Take care of her for me, okay Luke?"

Lucas nods, "of course I will Nate. But she will come around eventually, she's just..."

"Hurt and scared, I know." Nathan responds, "so I'm going to give her space. I'll see you later." Nathan glances at Haley one last time before he turns to walk away, but not before Haley comes running toward him. Nathan catches her in a tight embrace as Haley buries her face in Nathan's chest, clinging to him tightly and sobbing.

Okay, it's not as long as the last chapter, but I gave you guys what you want so that's good right? Haley has finally let Nathan comfort her...what's next? Guess you'll have to wait to find out! Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Four

A.N., I thought I would let you know that it's very hard to write a OTH story when you are suffering from serious withdrawal...Damn the hiatus! Anyway, sorry, so thank you all sooo much for your reviews it means a ton that this is being so well received, it's still very hard to write and doesn't appear to be getting any easier, but I'll keep on keeping on if you keep reviewing! This chapter was created because I found myself in a small bookstore café after being provided with caffeine from the person I've dubbed my Luke, soooo cute and he made me such good coffee...guess we all know what coffee shop I'll be frequenting!

* * *

With Haley in his arms again for the first time in what felt like forever it was all Nathan could do to keep from breaking down in the middle of the crowded hallway and cry with her. But he knows that that won't help anyone, instead he holds her tightly to him and whispers, "we'll get through this. It's going to be okay. Shh, it's okay."

Peyton walks over to Lucas, both smile sadly at each other hoping that maybe things will get better now. Neither can hear the almost silent exchange happening and Peyton whispers, "she's going to be okay."

"Let me take you home," Nathan urges staring down at his wife's tear stained cheeks.

Haley shivers in Nathan's arms, "please."

Nathan wraps a protective arm around Haley, shielding her from all the overly curious glances of their nosey schoolmates Nathan leads Haley towards Lucas and Peyton. "We're going home, if anyone asks we had a family emergency."

"Of course," Lucas nods.

"If you need anything..." Peyton offers.

"Thanks," Nathan hugs Haley tightly, "we'll talk to you guys later."

* * *

"Just sit here," Nathan gently guides Haley to sit at the kitchen counter. "I'll make you something to drink or eat, what do you want?"

"I..." Haley falters, "I don't need anything..."

"We have lots of that tea you love..." Nathan states starting to pull tea bags out of the cupboard. How about some tea and jelly toast, your favorite."

"Okay." Haley nods.

Nathan turns away from Haley sucking in a deep breath, he had spent the last two days on the internet researching everything he could possibly get his hands on regarding how to help a rape victim. And he remembered it all. But just seeing Haley sitting there, so broken, was throwing him off, he had all of these details in his mind but he didn't have the slightest idea how to apply them.

When Nathan turns back around with the tea and toast he finds that Haley is no longer sitting at the counter, quickly Nathan's gaze searches the apartment. His gaze finally settles on Haley curled into a ball on the couch with the blanket, that had once decoratedthe bed in her bedroom, wrapped tightly around you.

"Hey," Nathan gently touches Haley's shoulder and she shies away from him, immediately giving him an apologetic glance. Nathan had read about how she might not want to be touched, but actually seeing his wife move away from his touch crushed him but he won't let it show, "you don't want anything to eat, do you?"

Haley shakes her head, "I think I just want to try and sleep. I'm so tired..."

Nathan nods, "I'll go into the bedroom and let you rest here, catch up on some homework."

Haley shakes her head, "you don't have to...if you want to sit with me that'd be okay."

"Sure," Nathan nods, "I'll sit here." He gestures to the opposite end of the couch and Haley nods slightly, and Nathan settles on the couch.

A long time passes and Nathan assumes she's fallen asleep, "I'm sorry." Haley's words are so quiet that Nathan isn't even sure he's heard them until he turns to glance at her and she's starring back at him with a pained expression on his face.

"Hales, don't apologize for something that isn't your fault," Nathan takes a deep breath, trying to keep his anger at Chris hidden, for fear that Haley will mistake it as anger at her. Haley turns her gaze away from Nathan, her forehead now resting on her knees. "Haley, I'm serious. Nothing that happened was your fault."

"Nate..." Haley lets out a long breath but doesn't finish whatever she'd intended to say.

"Haley," Nathan gently lifts Haley's chin to look at him, despite her flinch the second his skin touches hers. "I love you, I'm going to love you forever. What Chris did to you is _his_ fault and I'm going to help you get through this in away possible."

Haley pulls away at Nathan's words, "you can't help." Haley moves quickly to her feet distancing herself from him, "it happened and it's not going away Nate. Reporting him, seeing a counselor or a doctor isn't going to change ir or make it better."

"You haven't seen a doctor?" Nathan stares shocked, he'd assumed Karen had taken her.

"No, and I'm not going to someone to tell them what happened."

Nathan stands up, almost two feet between him and his wife, "you have to see a doctor," he states firmly.

"Nathan, you can't force me to go." Tears are welling Haley's eyes and there's no force behind her words.

"Haley, you're going, you need to be examined by a doctor. Please, don't make me drag you there."

"Nathan, please," tears now slip down Haley's cheeks, making Nathan's heart smash into a billion pieces for the millionth time in just a couple days.

He doesn't want to force her to do anything else against her will, but Nathan had read enough to know the doctors visit, no matter how emotional painful, had to be done. "Haley, baby, I'm sorry, but you have to see a doctor. I won't force you to report him or to see a councilor but you have to do this."

"Nathan, please..."

"Haley, you are seeing a doctor, do you want to call and make the appointment or should I?"

"You can't force me to go," for the first time since Haley had come back from New Yorkher face has a look other than brokeness, stubbornness, that gives Nathan hope, resides there. "This is _my_ life."

"I'll call then." Nathan calm comment, as if it were an everyday conversation, deflates Haley as if putting up her stubborn front for even that short period of time has taken everything out ofher and she collapses silently onto the couch. With a deep breath Nathan grabs the cordless phone and heads back to the bedroom where he knows Haley's address book is.

* * *

Nathan tries to calm his nerves before the nurse picks up on the other line, "hello, I need to make a doctors appointment for my wife, as soon as possible."

"I have a ten o'clock appointment open for tomorrow."

"I need it for today, do you have _any_ spaces open for today?"

"If your wife is seriously injured or ill I'd suggest and urgent care center, sir."

"She was," Nathan gulps a large amount of air. "My wife was raped, and I think she would feel more comfortable with her regular doctor, not a strange urgent care physician."

The nurse on the other end is silent for several seconds, "Doctor Bradbury has a brief opening, but your wife would have to come in right away."

"Thank you, very much," Nathan sighs in relief, he didn't want to put this off any longer than he had to, for Haley's sake.

"And your wife's name?"

"Haley James-Scott."

"Okay, she has a nine o'clock appointment with Doctor Bradbury."

Nathan hangs up the phone and heads back into the living room, and he can hear Brooke's voice before he sees her kneeing by Haley who still sits on the couch.

"Hey Nate," Brooke offers a sad smile. "So I was just telling Tutor-Wife here that I could take her to the doctors if she would prefer."

"Thanks Brooke but..."

"I told her yes," Haley's words are clear and hold no readable emotion.

Nathan falters but tries not to show it, "okay. Well, Hales, you have a nine o'clock appointment with Doctor Bradbury."

"Okay, come on Tutor-Wife, we should leave now," Brooke holds her hands out and pulls Haley to her feet. "We'll be back soon, but I might try to convince your wife to stop at Karen's with me. I am totally craving a blueberry scone."

* * *

Brooke sits anxiously in the doctor's office waiting for Haley's appointment to be over, she was never a good patient and being in the doctors office and not being a patient didn't do anything to calm her down. "Brooke?"

Brooke jumps at her name being called and finds Doctor Bradbury standing at the door, "yes?"

"Can I speak to you for a minute?"

Brooke nods and follows the doctor into her small office, "where's Haley?" Brooke questions once they are out of the hallway with the door shut.

"In the bathroom, calming down. These types of exams are never easy and you're a good friend to bring her."

"If I hadn't her husband would have," Brooke shrugs the comment off.

"Just the same, you're a good friend. Now," Doctor Bradbury takes a prescription notepad out of her desk drawer. "Haley said I could give these to you, since you are in a much better state of mind then she is, and you can pass along all the information to Haley's husband."

"Okay," Brooke nods.

"The first thing I am prescribing is a mild sedative, Haley hasn't slept well in days so this should help. I have some Levonorgestrel, the morning after pill, on hand and Haley and I have discussed it and she's decided to take it. So the nurse will give that to you on your way out. She must take it right away and take the second pill right away. Her blood test results should be in tomorrow, so someone will call Haley with the results. And one last thing,"

Doctor Bradbury begins flipping through a rollodex and writing things down as she speaks, "this is a list of councilors. All of the names I am writing down now specialize in rape victims, Haley told me she has no intention of seeing a councilor, but if you could give it to her husband to have on hand just in case she changes her mind."

"Okay," Brooke nods, "thank you."

"Brooke, one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Try to get her to eat, she's not been sleeping and I have the feeling she hasn't been eating either. If you could get her to eat _anything_ that would be better than nothing."

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

"So," Brooke had allow silence to stand between her and Haley the entire way back to the car but once they are inside she breaks it. "Karen's?"

"I don't know think so Brooke..."

"Please?" Brooke wasn't actually hungry, the entire situation with her friend made her feel sick to her stomach every time she thought about it or looked at Haley , but she'd known Haley needed to eat something long before Doctor Bradbury had said something. "I'm, like, dying of starvation."

"Okay," Haley sighs.

"Great," Brooke's words come out with a forced enthusiasm. When they pull into the parking spot Brooke states, "you're coming in, right?"

"Can't I just stay in the car?"

"Every time I get around Karen I say something stupid, dates way back to when I waswith Lucas. Besides, we have to kill time until Doctor Bradbury calls your prescription in, then you can go home and sleep forever or you can watch daytime soaps, I think Emily and Nicholas are getting married on General Hospital today..."

Haley doesn't respond, but sighs and gets out of the car, slowly following Brooke into the café. "Why don't you sit there?" Brooke motions to a corner booth, "and I will get us something to eat and drink?"

"Fine," Haley moves toward the table Brooke had motioned to.

"Hey," Karen greets once Brooke reaches the counter, "how's she doing?"

Brooke shrugs, "pretty much, what you see is what you get. But she went home with Nathan today as soon as she got to school and he made a doctors appointment for her, we're just getting back from there."

"But she went home with Nathan, so that's good, right?"

Brooke shrugs, "things seemed kind of cool between them while I was there."

Karen frowns, "what can I get you guys?"

"A chai tea for me with a blueberry scone and the highest calorie drink and pastry you have, I don't think Haley's eaten a thing in days."

Karen nods, "okay." Brooke waits at the counter while Karen gets their order and she comes back with a large bag, "give that to Haley, it has a little of everything. I'm pretty sure Nathan isn't the chef in the family so if you could let him know that I'll bring by food for dinner tonight too?"

Brooke nods, "sure, no problem."

"She's going to get through this," Karen reassures, picking up the worry in Brooke's tone. "Haley has great friends, and we're going to help her get through this. It may take a while, but I know she'll be okay."

Brooke bites her lip, "I hope so."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

A.N. It's short, I know an I apologize. This story is just so hard for me to write and the only reason I am continuing it is because everyone loves it so much...I'm trying hard but it's a very hard story to write...I'm also running out of ideas...I have one but I'm not sure if I'll use it...if you have any ideas for the story email me or leave them in a review, I'd appreciate it a lot!

* * *

Nathan is waiting in the parking lot of the apartment building when Brooke pulls up, Haley was passed out in the passengers seat. The mild sedative that Dr. Bradbury had prescribed had knocked Haley out within minutes of taking it, so Brooke had called Nathan to have him meet them in the parking lot. He immediately rushes around to Haley's side of the door and opening it he scoops Haley into his arms and allows Brooke to lead the way to the apartment. "I'll be right back," he whispers before disappearing with Haley into the bedroom.

Brooke nods and heads into the kitchen, dropping a plastic bag on the counter in the process. After doing that Brooke pulls the bottle of pills out of her purse along with the list of councilors on it and on the opposite side she begins scribbling instructions for the pills. Then she sets to work pulling things out of the plastic bag as well. From the plastic grocery bag she pulls out a pint of Ben & Jerry's coffee ice cream, a huge bag of skittles, a six pack of Dr. Pepper and two cans of soup, all of them were Haley's favorite.

"Brooke," Lucas enters the apartment and nearly causes Brooke to drop a can of soup on her foot.

"Lucas, what are you doing here?" Brooke stares at him stunned.

"I brought over some of Haley's favorite movies," Lucas holds a bag up, "figured she'd need some sort of entertainment. What are you doing here?"

"I took Haley to the doctor, she was a little uncertain about Nathan taking her, then we stopped at your moms and picked up her prescriptions and some comfort food. But I have a feeling that the next couple of days she's going to sleep, her doctor prescribed her a sedative that pretty much knocked her on her ass."

"I could kill him for doing this," Lucas swears under his breath. "She's so..."

"Broken?" Brooke supplies.

Lucas nods, "yeah."

"Hey Luke," Nathan greets coming out of the bedroom. "Thanks for everything you guys, but would you mind clearing out? I'm beat and Haley's gonna be out for a couple of hours at least."

Luke nods, "sure, I brought some movies over...I figured she'd want something to...you know keep her mind off of everything."

"Thanks Luke."

Brooke nods as well, "I'll call to check in later. I left instructions by the bottle and on the other side is a list of councilors, in case she changes her mind."

"Thanks, for everything," Nathan responds almost automatically, "I'll catch you guys later."

"You going back to class?" Lucas asks once he and Brooke are outside of the apartment."

Brooke shakes her head, "nah. There's no point now. You?"

Lucas shakes his head, "want to head over to the River Court?"

Brooke nods, "sure."

* * *

When Brooke and Lucas reach the river side court they find Peyton, Jake and Jenny already there sitting on a picnic blanket, "hey guys!" Jake calls out his greeting as they both emerge from their cars.

"We're having lunch, do you want to join us?" Peyton invites.

"We don't want to intrude," Lucas insists with a shake of his head.

"Nah man," Jake replies, "we've got plenty."

"Hi Jenny," Brooke coos to the baby happily residing in Peyton's arms.

"So Jenny's here," Lucas comments, "that mean you're staying?"

Jake nods, "yeah. We're moving in with Peyton, I'm not going to run from Niki forever. I'm going to start back at school too, your mom and Whitey have both offered to watch her during school. And your mom gave me my old job back."

"Jake that's great," Brooke states, glad to take her mind off Haley even for a couple minutes, but this doesn't last long.

Jake hands Lucas and Brooke each a sandwich while Peyton muses to Brooke, "you weren't in first period today."

"Yeah, I skipped. I stopped over at Tutor-Wife and Nathan's on my way to school and ended up taking Haley to the doctors and running a few errands."

"We need to do something for her," Peyton states picking at the food on her plate and feeding some of it to Jenny.

"Killing Chris comes to mind," Lucas' eyes blaze with hatred.

"No," Peyton shakes her head, "Something not take her mind off of the whole thing. Doing anything to Chris would only make the situation worse."

"Shopping?" Brooke suggests.

Peyton shakes her head again, "something away from Tree Hill. To give her time away from everything."

"Like a road trip?" Jake asks.

"Yeah," Lucas nods, "it sounds like a great idea. But where?"

"I don't know," Peyton shrugs. "But we have to do something, she can't just sit around her apartment all day, it isn't healthy. I mean I know, it just happened, but if we just let her lay around all day it's going to keep going."

"My aunt has a beach house on Sunset Beach," Brooke states, "I bet she would let us use it for a weekend."

"Haley would love that," Lucas responds.

Brooke nods, "I'll call my aunt and set it up. Someone should talk to Nathan about it too."

Lucas nods, "I'll take care of it."

* * *

"No!" Haley's scream startles Nathan awake on the couch. Immediately he leaps to his feet and hurries into their bedroom to find Haley thrashing on the bed. Kneeling by the bed Nathan gently places is hand on Haley's shoulder and whispers, "Haley, baby, wake up." When she doesn't responds Nathan raises his voice slightly, "Haley, it's Nathan. You're home. You're safe. It's okay. Just wake up."

"Nate," Haley gasps awake, "Nate." Her eyes focus on Nathan, "it was so...I thought I was there again." With a sight Haley detangles herself from the sheets, "I'm going to take a shower."

"Do you want me to make you something to eat?" Nathan asks, "Brooke brought over a bunch of food. Particularly ice cream and soup."

"I'm fine." Haley shakes her head.

"Lucas brought a bunch of movies, I can set one of them up for you, if you'd rather to that after you get out of the shower."

"Sure," Haley nods, "that's fine."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

A.N. I know it took me forever to get this chapter out. I suck emensely. Four months have passed since this last chapter and I won't even justify it with a lame explanation. But if it helps I have the next seven chapters mapped out. Oh and did I mention that there's only seven chapters left? Lol. So hopefully it'll move quickly. And the faster you read the faster I type!

* * *

"Hales, you know we don't have to do this trip," Nathan states for what must be the millionth time that morning.

"Nathan, these are our friends, our best friends, they are trying to do something nice for us. They found us this house, they all are checking out of their lives for a weekend, for us, for me," Haley's words previously have been coming from the bathroom but she emerges now, "we can't back out."

"If you wanted to, they'd understand, they could still go on their own," Nathan replies quickly. "If you're not comfortable going to the beach with a bunch of people, even if they are our friends I'll explain it to them."

"Nathan," Haley's tone is slightly sharp when she uses his name, "we're going. Please stop bugging me about it." With her words Haley sweeps her hair off of her neck and clips it up, "they should be here any minute. I'm going to grab my bag, okay, please don't mention this again."

Nathan is grinning when Brooke pushes open their apartment door, he'd seen a glimmer of the old Haley there, in that moment where she'd snapped, and it thrilled him. "Hey Dopey, what's with the smile?" Brooke asks pushing Nathan out of his thoughts. "Hey Tutor-Wife let's go!"

"Nothing," Nathan shakes his head quickly before Haley reemerges with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder, Nathan immediately takes it from her.

"Great, Nate you can take the bag with you guys in the car. Jake has Peyton's car and you guys are going in that while the girls will be riding in my car." Brooke links her arms through Haley's, "come on Tutor-Wife you've got shot-gun."

"I thought maybe Haley and I could..."

"Nope, sorry. Against the rules. Boys in one car. Girls in the other." Brooke shakes her head as she pulls Haley out of the apartment and starts down the steps.

* * *

"Thank you Brooke," Haley sighs once they have started on the road.

"For the trip? Tutor-wife we all needed the break," Brooke states as she passes a slower moving car.

"Not for the trip," Haley shakes her head, "well I do appreciate the trip but that's not what I'm thanking you for. For telling Nathan he couldn't come with us, he's driving me insane."

"He's just worried about you Hales," Peyton offers her words from the backseat where she sits alone, Jenny was staying with Jake's parents for the weekend. She watches Haley intently through the rearview mirror, Haley looked more pulled together then when Peyton had last seen her but there was something lying in her eyes that Peyton couldn't make out.

"I know he's worried about me," Haley's voice is slightly shrill as she speaks, "it's just that his coddling has been driving me crazy. I just want to move on with my life and it's like he needs me to be in a pain so he can take care of me."

Peyton catches Brooke's glance in the mirror, "he just wants you to go through what you need to go through." Brooke's words are slow and cautious, knowing her own temper she knew that Haley was likely to fly off the handle at any point and Brooke didn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

"I don't want to go through it," Haley's eyes shift to something outside of her window so that no one can see her expression any longer. "I just want to move on with my life. Starting with Monday, I'll be back in school ready to catch up on what I missed."

"That's good, Haley," there's a pause in Peyton's speech while she attempts to sort out what she wants to say. "But you just can't push these emotions away, if you don't deal with your emotions now it's all going to come back and bite you in the ass in the end."

"Can we not talk about this anymore? It's supposed to be a vacation, right? So we don't have to cope with the reality of our lives?" Haley cuts her own words off by turning on the stereo and turning up so as to make conversation all but impossible, over the noise and the wind caused by the convertible state of the car

* * *

Haley stares at the ocean, she felt more relaxed then she did the instant she left Tree Hill to go to New York City. There was something so cleansing to the soul about the ocean and she was so grateful to Brooke, Peyton, Lucas and Jake for pulling this all together for her. The two days had gone quickly. They were spent mostly on the beach, the girls soaking up the sun while the guys played various beach sport activities and teased the girls. Even Nathan had relaxed by Saturday night and Sunday he'd obviously been enjoying himself, no longer stressing himself over Haley's well being.

"Hey," Nathan appears suddenly from behind Haley. "You've been out here for a long time. Everyone's starting to head to bed." Haley had been grateful for the room she shared with Nathan, although it made her think of an old 50's couple, they had separated twin beds. Haley felt bad for keeping Nathan at the distance but she was sure it would be worse if she flinched every time he crosses that invisible line between his space and hers. "But you missed all the drama."

"Oh?" Haley's distracted and she's only half listening as she makes the quiet noise.

"Brooke and Lucas got into a huge fight and started making out..." Nathan laughs, "you can never tell with the two of them."

"Good for them," Haley is paying enough attention to know the appropriate response but past that she's got no idea what Nathan's talking about.

"Do you want to talk about whatever you're thinking about?" Nathan's words are gentle and Haley bites her lip, fighting back tears.

"Yeah." Haley can almost hear Nathan's shock in the air and they both fall silent, she knows he's waiting patiently for her to begin speaking. Haley takes a deep breath, she doesn't want to say what she's about to, but she has too. She's been out here thinking about it for nearly two hours and she knows that it's best for both of them, especially for Nathan. "I think we need to take some time apart. I'm going to ask Lucas if I can stay at his place." She's sure that Nathan understands what she's getting at but the last sentence slips out before she can stop it, "I think we should get a divorce."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

A.N. I thought I'd use your own reactions for Peyton and Brooke's reaction to the news so thanks to maggymoo21, Lindsay23, Karahbella for their aid in the reaction department.

* * *

"Whoa, Tutor-Wife, mind telling us what's going on?" Brooke grabs Haley's arm when she walks back into the beach house half an hour later, her arms wrapped protectively around her body. "Nathan came storming in here and nearly threatened Jake's life if we didn't leave now, instead of after dinner like we planned and the three of them have been locked in your bedroom since."

"Hales," Peyton steps forward, her tone is mothering and gentle, "what happened?"

Haley avoids her friend's concerned looks as she focuses on a picture of the ocean just over Peyton's shoulder, "Nathan and I are getting a divorce."

It's silent in the apartment for a minute, but the heated discussion in the bedroom closest to them breaks the silence eventually, and the noise seems to bring Peyton and Brooke out of their stunned stupors.

"Oh my God, a divorce?" Peyton stares at Haley unable to form more of a reaction then that.

"Holy shit, you can't get a divorce. Stupid move," Brooke shakes her head but then shrugs at Peyton's glare. "What? It is."

"What Brooke means to say," Peyton responds slowly, "is that Nathan wants to help you get through this. You can't just push him away, maybe take some time apart, but a divorce?"

"Yes," Haley nods, "a divorce."

Brooke opens her mouth to speak but Nathan comes bursting out of the bedroom, "we're leaving."

Jake is just behind Nathan and he kisses Peyton, "I'll wait for you at your house." With his words he hurries after Nathan.

Lucas comes out of the room slower, he glances at the three girls in front of him, "I've got to go after him," his eyes lock on Haley, "we're talking later." His attention then moves to Peyton, "drop her off at my house okay?" He stops briefly in front of Brooke, "we'll talk later to, okay?"

Despite her stunned reaction to Haley's news she can't help but give Lucas a small smile, "okay."

The instant Lucas and Jake disappear out of the house the brief smiles disappear from Peyton and Brooke's faces, "Haley maybe just some time apart would help you and Nathan out, but a divorce? That's just so...final..." Peyton speaks slowly carefully, picking and choosing as she goes for fear of upsetting Haley.

Haley shakes her head her voice calm and even, "it's not going to work Peyton, I've tried."

"No, you haven't, Haley, try harder!" Brooke's voice is raised almost in a panic and Haley's name, instead of Tutor-Wife, sounds strange and almost painful on Brooke's lips.

"It can't work Brooke," Haley hugs her arms more tightly around herself. "I flinch every time my husband touches me. That's not right and it's not going away and every time it happens Nathan gets this look in his eyes and I know he sees me with Chris." Haley's voice stays the same level of calm that it was before and the first tears that are spilt are Brooke's, follow closely by Peyton.

"But you love him, and he loves you, the two of you can work through this."

"We can't," Haley shakes her head, "love isn't always enough. I loved Nathan but I still went to New York with Chris..."

"Haley, Nathan doesn't blame you for that," Peyton states wiping at her cheeks, she can feel the pain coming off of Haley in waves.

"_I_ blame me," Haley responds and for the first time her voice betrays her emotions. "I had no business getting on that bus, none."

Brooke takes a step closer to Haley, "Chris is the one to blame, Tutor-Girl. He did what he did, he made his choice and he took the power."

"I got on the bus, it was thrilling and kind of dangerous, hell, maybe I wanted it on some level I did want to be with Chris."

"No," Peyton and Brooke both state quickly, shaking their heads.

"I don't know, that's not even the point. The point is I stopped being a good wife the instant I let Chris kiss me and then I only made it worse by getting on that bus. Nathan deserves so much better then that."

"The only reason Nathan deserves anything good is because of the type of person you helped him to become. You gave him every benefit of the doubt, let him give you the same chance." Peyton urges gently, "let him help you."

Haley shakes her head as a tear rolls down her cheek, "you guys are my best friends beside Lucas, I need you guys to support me in this. That's what I need from you guys, please respect my decisions and be my friend. You guys have both been asking me if I need anything, this is what I need. I need to move on with my life and this is the only way I can do it."

Brooke is the first to respond, "sure, Tutor-Girl, if that's what you need."

"It is," Haley nods.

Finally Peyton agrees as well, "okay, we can do that."

"You can stay with me," Brooke offers, "my parents are gone so much that it'd be nice to have someone around."

"I was going to ask Lucas..."

"Nathan's going to need Lucas," Peyton cuts in, "staying with Brooke is probably the best idea."

"You're right," Haley nods.

"We should get going," Brooke states, "there's no point in staying here anymore, we can just grab something to eat on the road."

"School tomorrow," Haley adds.

"You know, Hales, no one would blame you if you didn't go to school tomorrow. A lot just happened, I'm sure you can get some more time off of school."

"I need to go back to my life Peyton," Haley shakes her head, "I have to go back to school."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I own nothing from One Tree Hill and I don't own "The Valley" either that belongs to the people over at the OC! **A.N.** I know it may seem like I'm revisiting this divorce issue a lot, that they are having lots of conversations about it. But I think the last one in this chapter with Brooke and Haley will be the last explanation that is given for Haley choosing divorce. And I wasn't going to add it but everyone kept asking about the divorce and not the separation so I thought I'd slip it in there! Review please!

: I own nothing from One Tree Hill and I don't own "The Valley" either that belongs to the people over at the OC! I know it may seem like I'm revisiting this divorce issue a lot, that they are having lots of conversations about it. But I think the last one in this chapter with Brooke and Haley will be the last explanation that is given for Haley choosing divorce. And I wasn't going to add it but everyone kept asking about the divorce and not the separation so I thought I'd slip it in there! Review please!

* * *

"So that's it?" Lucas stares at Haley, they sit opposite each other at Lucas' kitchen table.

"What do you want me to tell you Lucas?" Haley asks playing with a napkin in her hands, a small pile of already shredded napkin pieces in front of her.

"I don't know Hales, but this is killing him." Lucas responds quietly, he'd spent two hours trying to calm his brother down until he'd fallen into an exhausted sleep at the apartment. When he'd gotten back Haley had been waiting for him in his room and the two had been talking for about 15 minutes now and it was obvious he wasn't making any progress with her either.

"And this is, what, a walk in the park for me, Luke? Of course this is killing me too, but we're both miserable and it's just not working..."

"No one told you that being married would be easy, of course it's hard and this situation is horrible but..."

"Lucas Scott, don't you dare talk to me about what a horrible situation this is. I'm more then well aware of what the situation is and how horrible it is without you acting like you know." Haley snaps, but never takes her eyes off of the napkin in her hands, it was to much to look into Lucas' face and see the mix of pity and disappointment that had been there since they sat down.

"So, what, I'm just supposed to let the two of you end your marriage, walk away like it's nothing?"

"Yes," Haley nods, "that's exactly what you're supposed to do. That's all I can handle, and Nathan needs you now, I expect you to take his side in this."

"Sides aren't important, Hales."

Haley shakes her head, "Nathan needs you Luke, don't worry about me. I'm going to stay with Brooke, you look out for Nathan, he's your brother..."

"Haley you're my best friend..."

"I know, that's not going to change, but take care of Nathan."

"There's no changing your mind about this is there?"

"No, there's not so please stop trying..."

"Okay," Lucas nods, "okay. I don't understand it, but it's none of my business so I will stop pushing."

"Thank you," Haley responds, looking up at Lucas for the first time, "I should go. It's late and there's school tomorrow."

"Do you want to just stay here tonight?" Lucas asks, "we can make up the guest bedroom?"

Haley shakes her head, "thanks but I have Brooke's car and she's waiting for me at her house."

"If you need anything..."

"I know, thanks Luke." Haley stands up and Lucas follows suite.

"I love you Haley," he wants to hug her, Haley can tell but he knows it will make her uncomfortable so he settles for gently squeezing her hand.

"I love you too," Haley responds softly.

* * *

"You know, we could just skip today," Brooke sits cross-legged on her bed as Haley pain-stakingly goes through the motions of getting ready for school. "I mean, you know me, always up for a day of lounging around and watching _The Valley_ season two on DVD I can never get enough of April being torn between..."

"Brooke, I'm fine," Haley interrupts quickly before Brooke gets on a roll about _The Valley_.

"No you're not, Tutor-Girl," Brooke responds pulling her knees to her chest.

Haley catches Brooke's gaze in the mirror while she puts her earrings in, "I have to be. This was my choice, remember?"

"That doesn't mean you have to be okay with it. You've been through a lot, school can wait a few more days."

"Uh-huh," Haley shakes her head, "you can stay home Brooke. But I'm going today. No question about it. I've missed enough school."

"Fine, school it is," Brooke nods standing up. "Besides I've got to talk to Lucas."

Haley sets down her tube of lip gloss, "so are you guys back together, or what?"

"Or what, I guess." Brooke responds running her hand through her dark hair.

"You guess?"

Brooke shrugs, "we kissed, that's it."

Haley frowns, knowing that her life disruption had rippled out to effect everyone around her, and that Lucas would have already talked to Brooke if they both hadn't been focused on picking up her mess. "I think you guys will work it out, I mean if you guys are still into each other."

Brooke arches an eyebrow at Haley, "if we're still into each other?"

"Don't look at me like that Brooke, my and Nathan's relationship is not the same as yours and Lucas'."

"That's right," Brooke nods, "Lucas and I dated for a couple of months. You and Nathan are married."

"I thought we this conversation already?" Haley asks immediately going on defense. "Remember? Where you agreed to stand by me and not try to convince me to get back together with Nathan?"

Brooke nods, "it's just...you and Nathan...if you guys can't make it work, who can?"

Haley's eyes lock on Brooke's again, "I dunno. But we're not the same people who got married months ago. The Haley who married Nathan would never have even considered getting on that bus, and that may not seem like a lot to you, but it's everything to me. SO much has changed and I have to learn to be me again before I can learn how to be part of an us."

"Okay," Brooke nods, "but one thing, don't take this the wrong way, but...I mean...why a divorce? Why not a trial seperation?"

"Because I don't want Nathan to spend the next couple of months or maybe even years waiting for me to get my life put back together. That's not fair to him."

"But Nathan..."

"Understands all of this, we talked about it all, he understands. He's not happy but he understands and I need the rest of you to stop pushing the subject."

"Okay, don't get all worked up before your first day back at school."

"I'm fine, you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Brooke bites her lip. "Haley, I've got to tell you that there's a lot of rumors going around school about you.

Haley shrugs, "I guess I'll have to deal with the rumors. But let's go, if I don't do this now I'm not sure I ever will."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

A.N. Thanks to everyone for their reviews, they really keep me going. I'm going to try and update at least once a week, I've finally got a story rotation going, but to update one I have to be able to finish a chapter of another and that's hard sometimes...but anyway please keep reviewing because the higher the review count the higher the story is on my rotation list! **Disclaimer: **Part of the scene in the classroom I don't own but when you get there I'm sure you'll understand why I had to copy it straight from the episode _Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows.

* * *

_

Thanks to everyone for their reviews, they really keep me going. I'm going to try and update at least once a week, I've finally got a story rotation going, but to update one I have to be able to finish a chapter of another and that's hard sometimes...but anyway please keep reviewing because the higher the review count the higher the story is on my rotation list! Part of the scene in the classroom I don't own but when you get there I'm sure you'll understand why I had to copy it straight from the episode 

"Hey," Brooke drops onto the bench next to Haley at lunch. "You look sick, maybe we should go home."

Haley rolls her eyes, "I'm not sick, I'm fine."

"Are you sure the stress of dealing with all the rumors isn't getting to be to much? I mean a half-day is a good start, you can ease yourself back into this."

"You're treating me like I'm sick or something, I'm not going to break. And besides the rumors are fine, everyone just whispers about me wherever I walk by, no one is actually confronting me about it. Which might have something to do with you and Peyton trailing me for most of the morning. And besides on top of all of that Nathan's not even here today so..."

"That's the thing," Brooke bites her lower lip, "on my way here I saw Nathan pull into the parking lot."

"Oh," Haley pales visibly.

"And you guys have the same..."

"Brooke," Haley glares, "I'm well aware of both my and Nathan's schedules, thank you."

"So, want to go home?"

"People see their exes all the time, I'll deal," Haley shrugs picking at the sandwich she'd bought minutes ago but had yet to touch.

"Haley you don't have to be strong all the time." Haley's eyes briefly lock on Brooke's before she looks away again without responding to Brooke's statement.

* * *

Haley is already in class when Nathan stumbles in, Haley watches Nathan but it is clear that he is doing everything that he can to avoid looking at her. Tt takes all of her willpower not to look at Nathan anymore and to turn her attention back to the teacher who is talking about some science related subject. A task made even more impossible as she can't help but hear the dialogue being exchanged by Nathan and Lucas just a couple seats behind her.

"Nate, I'm glad you showed up," Lucas whispers.

"Whatever," Nathan responds, "I'm only here because my playstation broke." His words are quickly followed by the hiss of a can being popped open, this action is the last straw and Haley can't help but turn around in her seat in enough time to see Nathan take a swig out of a can.

"Hey man, are you nuts?" Lucas demands quietly and Haley watches as he glances up at the teacher but she can't take her eyes off of Nathan but Haley is well aware when the teacher trails off and some girls right next to her giggle.

"Okay," the teacher approaches Nathan's seat and crossing her arms over her chest demands, "please tell me you are not drinking beer in my class."

"Technically it's malt liquor," Nathan responds taking another sip.

"Nathan!" The teacher exclaims.

"It's okay," Nathan declares digging around in his bag before producing another can and setting it on the desk of a student sitting nearby, "I brought enough to share."

Haley can't stand watching this scene anymore and she jumps to her feet and hurries over to Nathan, lightly tugging on his arm, "come on Nate, let's take a walk, talk..."

Nathan shoves Haley off of him, hard enough that she had to grab a desk to keep from falling, "get off of me, Haley. We're not married anymore, so just leave me the hell alone."

"Nathan..." Haley can't help but try again as the teacher and other students watch on dumbfounded, except for Lucas she can see the pity on his face.

"Haley, seriously, just leave me alone. I was thinking of maybe hooking up with this _fine_ educator here, with that outfit I'd guess she's easy and this way I can move on and all that shit we talked about."

"Nathan!" Haley stares shocked at Nathan while their teacher looks ready to explode with rage,

"Both of you, principals office, no," she orders before placing a firm hand on both of their shoulders and directing them out of the classroom.

* * *

"This is inexcusable," Principal Turner is standing over both Haley and Nathan minutes later. "The school kept our mouths shut when the two of you got married, because you seemed to be going along about it very maturely, but I will not allow the two of you to use my school as an open forum for your marital problems."

"It won't happen again Mr. Turner," Haley assures quickly.

"You're absolutely right because you are both about to be expelled."

Haley's eyes go wide but Nathan shows no reaction, "expelled?" She asks quietly swallowing against the lump blocking her throat.

"Yes, expelled. Mrs. Scott you haven't been to a class in nearly two weeks and your husbands actions in the classroom today are grounds enough for expulsion."

"But..."

"I'm not expelling anyone today, but both of you will be serving some serious detention time." He stops for a moment, as if to figure out their forms of punishment, "Mrs. Scott you will be serving afterschool detention until you've made up every test, essay and assignment that you've missed on your hiatus." He stops to think again, "and Mr. Scott you'll be spending the next six weeks in Saturday morning detention, after you've served a weeks worth of suspension."

"Great, does that mean I'm free to go home?" Nathan questions as he stands.

"In school," Principal Turner adds.

"Damn," Nathan swears before dropping back into his seat.

"You're free to return to class Mrs. Scoot."

"Will you stop calling her that?" Nathan demands, "we're not going to be married anymore."

Principal Turner glances at Haley looking for some sign of confirmation and at her not he sighs, "I'm sorry to hear that, but as I said earlier keep your problems outside of the classroom, outside of the halls of Tree Hill High. Now, Ms. James if you'll excuse us Nathan and I have a lot to talk about,"

"Woohoo," Nathan responds in an overly excited tone.

Haley stands and glancing at Nathan one last time she walks out of the office. "Oh my God, Tutor-Girl," Brooke jumps to her feet when Haley walks into the hallway, followed closely by Lucas and Peyton. "Luke sent me a text message saying you guys got kicked out of class."

"What happened in there?" Lucas gestures to the office doors, he'd already quickly informed Peyton and Brooke about what had happened in class while they waited.

"Turner threatened to expel the both of us," Haley informs.

"Expel _you_?" Peyton demands, "that's not right."

"He's not going to," Haley sighs before she begins to explain what had occurred in the office.

"Nathan's probably lucky he didn't get expelled," Peyton concludes right before the door opens and Nathan emerges, slamming it shut behind him.

"What the hell are you guys doing here? Talking about me? Stagging some sort of intervention?"

"Nate we just..." Peyton begins.

"Just back the hell off," Nathan orders.

"Nate, come on," Lucas begins.

"Sorry," Nathan shakes his head, "but I've got to spend some quality time in the suspension room, so if you'll excuse me."

"Nate..." Lucas tries to stop Nathan, who's already started down the hallway.

"Luke," Haley sighs, "just let him go. You're not going to get through to him today."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

A.N. Thanks again for all of the reviews, I love you guys for the reviews! I know you guys are sad for Haley and Nathan but they both have to do some growing before they can even start to think about getting back together and who's to say that when they're done growing they won't have grown out of each other. Hmm, I am dark like that after all. Oh and there's a language warning in this chapter! So I'm not 100 thrilled with this chapter, but I can't pinpoint what it is exactly that I don't like about it so I can't change it...I guess cause it's kind of a transition chapter...

* * *

Haley's screams pull Brooke out of her sleep somewhere near three thirty in the morning a couple days later. Brooke bolts out of her room and down the hall, Brooke's over-active imagination jumps to a million fears beside the reality of Haley's obvious nightmare.   
"Leave him alone," Haley's screams have changed into tearful pleas.  
"Haley," Brooke sits down gently on the bed, carefully shaking her.  
"Let me go you son-of-a-bitch!" Haley's hands flail wildly before her fists connect solidly with Brooke's jaw, this motion seems to draw Haley out of whatever nightmare she had been locked in. "Brooke?" Tears are streaming down Haley's cheeks when she finally recognizes her brunette friend.  
"Damn Tutor-girl you sure pack a punch, remind me to never piss you off, like ever." Brooke rubs her jaw gently, painfully aware that it'll probably a bruise she'll have to cover before leaving for school in the morning.  
"Sorry I was dreaming..." Haley pauses then shakes her head, "never mind. I'm sorry for waking you up and, you know, punching you."  
"What were you dreaming about?" Brooke inquires, hoping that talking about it will help Haley heal.  
"It's nothing," Haley shakes her head.  
"Well, it was obviously something because, you know, I've been bruised."  
Haley swipes at her cheeks, "Chris was going to s-sh-oot Na-than."  
"Oh Hales," Brooke wraps her arms around Haley, "Chris won't hurt you again, we won't let him."  
Haley shivers, "he haunts me, Brooke, every time I fall asleep and you can't protect me from that."  
"Haley," Brooke chews on her lower lip, "I know you don't want to hear this, and I know Lucas and Karen have already talked to about this but..."  
"Brooke, please don't start this."  
"Tutor-girl, you can't just hope that time will make this go away. You have to talk to someone about this and you're not talking to any of us about it. Hell you pushed Nathan away, consequently breaking is heart in the process, so you wouldn't have to talk about it."  
"That's not why I told Nathan we're over!" Haley defends quickly.  
"Part of it is," Brooke responds, "but that's not the point. If you just let it go without talking about it, it's just going to eat away at you."  
"Brooke, stop, God, just stop," Haley brushes Brooke off. "You don't know what you're talking about so just stop. I'm not going to see a councilor, this is how I deal."  
"That's the thing Haley, you're not dealing, you're trying to act like it didn't happen. It did happen and you have to talk to someone about that. And yeah, you're right I don't know what this feels like and I don't know how to talk to you about it, that's why you should be talking to someone who does know what you're talking about, and who does know the right things to say to you."  
"Brooke, just back off," Haley's voice shakes," Haley's voice shakes as she talks but there are no more tears. "Back off or I might have to hit you again." She's trying to pass it off as a joke but Brooke has a feeling that if she pushes Haley any further she might very well get hit again.  
"Just think about it," Brooke suggests moving off of the bed, "do you need anything?"  
"No," Haley briefly shakes her head before laying back against her pillow.  
"Okay, well I'm gonna go back to bed."  
"-k," Haley responds quietly.  
Brooke slips out of the guestroom and moves back toward her room, but once she's in the quiet safety of her room she lets the tears fall onto her cheeks. Her heart is breaking for Haley and the fact that there is nothing she can do to help her. Crawling into her bed Brooke grabs her cell phone on her bedside table and hits the speed dial button, "hey, it's me."  
"Hey you," Lucas sounds wide awake for it being so late at night or early in the morning as it was. "What's wrong?"  
"I'm worried about Haley."  
"Me too, but it's Nathan that has me up tonight."  
"Oh no, what happened?"

* * *

"What's going on Tim?" Lucas meets Tim at the door of the bar he will always remember belonging to his first date with Brooke. He's gotten a call from Tim to meet him here right away, but no details has been shared before Tim had hung the phone up, but Lucas has the suspicion that it was regarding his brother.  
"It's Nathan, he's drunk off his ass," Tim sighs, "I thought I'd bring him out to cheer him up..."  
"Okay," Lucas runs a hand through his hair, dealing with a drunk Nathan was never his favorite thing to do. Drunk Nathan was always unpredictable, sometimes he was outright cruel and other times he was just an idiot.  
"He's all over just about anything in a skirt," Lucas can't help but see the irony in Tim making a comment about this but quickly turns his attention back to the details Tim is giving him. "And he's nearly gotten his ass kicked more then one for it."  
Lucas doesn't really need to hear much more so he pushes open the door, immediately spotting Nathan not far away at the par, with his arm draped around a scantily clad blonde. "You know I used to date a blonde, we had nothing in common. But she was hot and we had great sex. Then like an idiot I went and got married."  
"You're married?" The blonde moves away, "I don't do married guys."  
"No worries," Nathan slurs his assurance, "we're getting a divorce. Do you do divorced guys."  
Lucas can't hear the blonde's responds but whatever she whispered in Nathan's ear causes both of them to get to their unsteady feet. "Lucas!" Nathan pulls the girl along until they stop in front of Lucas, "Brenda this is my brother Lucas, Lucas this is Brenda my hot new friend we're going to head back to her apartment and she is going to help me get over Haley."  
"Nate, come on, why don't we go back to my house and talk?"  
"Hell no," Nathan responds, "I'm getting over Haley, like I'm supposed to!"   
"No one expects that to happen overnight," Lucas states, "it's going to take time. Don't do this, just throw yourself at any random girl."  
"Whatever Luke," Nathan brushes him off but Lucas reaches out to grab his arm, "get off me bastard!" Something in this strikes Nathan as fun because he doubles over in laughter, "no pun intended of course. I'll see you around Luke."

* * *

"He didn't really say that Luke, did he?" Brooke gasps into the cell phone, she'd listened to Lucas' story silently but she couldn't keep quiet about this part of the story.  
"He did," Lucas sighs, "it's like he's Nathan from the beginning of the year, before he and Haley got together."  
"So you just let him go?" Brooke asks.  
"What was I supposed to do, chase after him and follow them back to her apartment and attempt to stop them from having sex."  
It's Brooke's turn to sigh, "I suppose that's not the most mature plan. But I can't believe he just went off with some skanky whore-bag."  
"Well that's the thing..."

* * *

"Hey," Lucas greets his mother when he walks into the kitchen half an hour past curfew, "I'm sorry. I was at the Rivercourt, I just had to blow off some steam. This whole thing with Nathan and Haley is getting to me."  
"They're really going through with this divorce?" Karen asks as she hands her sweaty son a bottle of water.  
"I guess," Lucas drinks the water down, after playing at the court for an hour without water he was thirsty.   
Karen jumps at the banging on the front door, "who in the world would be here?"  
"Lucas, open up! I've got to talk to you!" Nathan's voice comes clearly through the door and into the kitchen, it's low and still slurred.  
"I'm going to bed," Karen gently kisses Lucas' cheek, "take care of your brother."  
"Night Mom," Lucas sighs before he walks toward the front door, pulling it open he doesn't expect Nathan to be leaning against it or for Nathan to come tumbling onto him, sobbing. "Nate what happened?"  
"I couldn't do it."  
"Do what?" All of this has thrown Lucas off to much to fully understand what's going on in front of him.  
"What the fuck do you think? The girl she was hot but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to touch her or...damnit it Luke what the hell is wrong with me?" Nathan demands loudly leaning back against the door, his anger has replaced the previous tears.  
"You're still in love with Haley," Lucas responds simply.   
"I don't want to be in love with her anymore," Nathan's back to sobs, "I just want to be over her. She doesn't want me."

* * *

"Oh Luke," Brooke whispers not bothering to wipe at her cheeks, "what'd you tell him?"  
"That Haley did love him, but it doesn't matter he's so drunk that he's not going to remember any of that in the morning." Lucas' voice sounds tired and strained.  
"Where is he now?"  
"Passed out on my bed. I don't know what to do Brooke, for either one of them. They won't talk about it, unless their drunk apparently but they need to talk about it and, call me a romantic, but Haley can't do this without Nathan by her side."  
"Haley woke up screaming, she had a dream Chris was trying to kill Nathan. She loves him and she misses him but it's like she punishing herself or protecting herself or both, but she won't talk to me about it. She threatened to hit me if I pushed the counseling topic anymore. We have to do something Lucas..."  
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Lucas responds.  
"Why not? We can't just sit around and do nothing."  
"Because last time we had a genius idea to help them work through their problems they decided to get divorced." Lucas lets out a long breath, "I think we need to stay out of it, I realize that's not the most proactive solution but...us pushing them isn't going to help."  
"So we're just supposed to sit back and let them fall apart?" Brooke asks, "I can't do that Luke."  
"We just have to give them time, I've got tickets to a basketball game at UNC next week I'll take Nathan. Get him out of Tree Hill and away from Haley for the weekend."  
Brooke sighs, "maybe we'll have a girls night, try to keep Haley's mind off of everything." There's a lull in the conversation but finally Brooke states, "I wish things could go back to the way they were before. When everyone was happy, no Chris, no Niki...there was a time that we were all happy right?"  
"It's hard to remember," Lucas responds.  
"Yeah," Brooke whispers, "it is." 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

* * *

"I don't know if I'm really up for a party Brooke," Haley sighs as she lays back against her bed in the guest bedroom at Brooke's.

"You're making it sound like I'm wanting to throw a huge party and invite the entire school," Brooke rolls her eyes. "I'm talking about a movie night with Peyton and Jenny, small intimate, just friends..."

"That's the part that I'm worried about," Haley retorts sitting up in her bed, it had been a week since Lucas and Brooke's conversation. One hell of a week, the next day Tim had blurted out right in front of Haley that Nathan had gone home with a gorgeous blonde. Even Tim, in all of his idiocy, had seen the error in his mistake and had hurried down the hall before Brooke's glare had obliterated him and she had drug Haley off to explain that nothing had happened between Nathan and "Blondie". Haley of course had brushed it off, saying that it didn't matter to her what Nathan did.

"Okay, okay," Brooke holds her hands up, "I promise this isn't some scheme to get you and Nathan back together. Nathan won't even be in Tree Hill, Lucas is taking him to Chapel Hill for the night, and now it's not one of those split you two up to talk some sense into you things. I promise no funny business. The guys are going to a basketball game and we're going to have a girls night, no hidden agenda."

"And Peyton and Lucas agreed to this?" Haley asks arching an eyebrow.

Brooke sighs, "of course. Lucas suggested that we don't push you two in the same direction anymore and Peyton pretty much agrees with Lucas."

"So it's just you and your quest?" Haley asks lightly.

"No," Brooke sighs heavily this time, "I guess I no longer have a quest. I just want my friends to be happy, Tutor-Girl, is that to much to ask?"

"Of course not," Haley shakes her head, "it's just...you can't force it on people. And besides you and Lucas are happy and Jake and Peyton are happy, can't that be enough?"

"No, Jake and Peyton aren't completely happy they have Niki hanging over their heads and I want _all_ of us to be happy. Like the old days."

"First of all," Haley states, "you talk about the old days like it's been years. It's been months _and _we've never all been happy at the same time. Ever. It's a nice thought but I don't think you're going to get your happily ever after forever."

"Oooh, feeling a bit pessimistic are we?" Brooke questions.

"You woke me up at eight on a Saturday," Haley mutters flopping back onto her bed, "don't you sleep."

"Not anymore," Brooke responds, "I've moved past sleep, I no longer need it. This is the new and improved Brooke."

"What happened to the old new and improved Brooke?" Haley questions with a teasing tone in her voice.

"She meddled to much," Brooke waves the question off, "this new and improved Brooke is so non-meddlesome."

"For now," Haley smirks.

"Geez, you're mean when woken up, so I guess I just won't bother to tell you that I was going to take us to Karen's for breakfast?" Brooke taunts.

"Urgh!" Haley pulls a pillow over her head, "and I'm the mean one. Fine I'll be up to leave, just give me a couple more minutes of sleep."

"You have thirty minutes until I am pulling out of the driveway," Brooke states as she hits Haley with an extra pillow, "if you aren't riding shotgun I'm going to be dining alone and I hate eating alone."

"I'll be up, just go away now."

"Going, going," Brooke responds heading to the door a smile across her features, Haley had seemed so Haley like that she couldn't help but hold onto the hope that maybe things were getting better.

* * *

"See getting up wasn't so hard," Brooke states as they reach Karen's, "besides you get great food in the process. My treat and everything."

"It better be since you drug me out of bed." Haley does smile despite her negative sounding tone.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're a pain in the ass?" Brooke asks as she quickly pulls into the only open parking space open several stores down from Karen's.

"No," Haley shakes her head as she unbuckles her seatbelt and then pushes open the door, "but I know you're pretty acquainted with the phrase."

"Your pain in the ass ass is about to be paying for her own coffee and danish if you don't lay off," Brooke laughs as Haley pushes open the door to Karen's café.

"Good morning," Karen is behind the counter when the pass through the entrance way, "you girls are up early."

"Blame it on Brooke," Haley responds walking toward the counter.

Karen smiles before stating, "it's good to see you smile again Haley, and just for that breakfast is on the house."

"Really? If I'd known that I would have gone back to bed for another two hours and let the new-new and improved Brooke drag someone else out of bed." Haley retorts, she naturally doesn't mention that her smile is forced or that she's only smiling so that everyone will get off her back. She doesn't think she handle another intervention and if smiling brightly and going through the motions of who she used to be will get everyone off her back then she's more then willing to do that. Besides with Brooke acting as normally as she has this morning Haley's finding it easier then she thought to act just like Haley. Not Haley James-Scott. Not Haley the girl who was raped. Or Haley who's not even a senior in high school and getting divorced. She's just Haley.

"Are you planning on complaining all morning?" Brooke asks.

Haley shakes her head, "only until I've had some coffee ingested into my system and the maybe I'll even be more willing to do this girls night that you forced upon me first thing this morning."

"Then bring on the..." Brooke trails as the bell above the door jingles behind them and they both turn to see Nathan and Lucas walking into the café.

"Oh my God," any pseudo-cheerfulness that Haley had been feeling deflates the moment everything sinks in. "I can't believe this."

"Tutor-girl..." Brooke begins.

"Save it Brooke," Haley brushes her off, "I should have known that you didn't mean anything you said." With this she turns her attention on Lucas, "I can't believe you're backing her up on this, just leave us alone."

"There is no us, remember Haley?" Nathan snaps.

"Right," Haley nods, her hands shaking cause her to shove them in her pockets, "thanks for reminding me Nathan. Leave _me_ the hell alone." With her words Haley storms out of the café

* * *

"Brooke just go away," Haley's voice is harsh from the other side of the guest bedroom door when Brooke gets back to her house half an hour later.

"No I will not go away," Brooke states as she pushes open the bedroom door. "Before you bite my head off I didn't know they were going to be there..."

"Right." Haley snorts.

"Whatever, believe me or not. But stop acting like a brat Haley."

"Excuse me?" Haley stares shocked at Brooke, she can hardly remember a time in the resent past that Brooke hadn't called her anything that started with "tutor" and in a tone that wasn't overly cheerful or teasing.

"I understand that you are going through a hard time. What Chris did to you is horrible and I wouldn't wish that on anyone but you're the one making the choice not to get help. There's not more we can do but I'm sick and tired of babying you, you've made your choice. You were raped. You're not getting help even though everyone who loves you thinks you should. You're divorcing your husband, the guy who loves you more then anything else in the world. But you've made your choice not to talk to someone, anyone, about it and I'm sick of going out of my way to be nice to you." Brooke turns on her heel at these words and is halfway down the hall before she turns back and sticks her head in the doorframe, "you're welcome to stay here for another week or so but then you need to get off your pity party ass and find your own place to live." With a sigh Brooke adds, "I love you Tutor-girl, but I just can't let you do this anymore...you need a serious dose of tough love."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Peyton sticks her head through Haley's open door as she furiously shoves clothing into her duffel bag. "Are we going on a trip? Cause I wouldn't midn hitting Brooke's aunt's beach house again."

"No," Haley shakes her head, "I'm going to stay with my brother, Braxton for awhile."

"What? Things not working out here living with Brooke, I've got to say I don't blame you Brooke can be kind of hard to live with..." Peyton states with a smile.

"Yeah well, we got in a fight," Haley states dropping onto the bed, "she said something's..."

Peyton frowns, "what did she say?"

"Nothing that wasn't true." Haley shrugs, "I need to get my life put back together."

"So you're going to go stay at your brothers," Peyton shrugs, "maybe being around family right now is what you need. And just give Brooke some time, she'll have cooled down by Monday when you see her in school."

"Actually, that's the thing," Haley bites her lower lip. "I have no family in Tree Hill, Braxton is a doctor in Atlanta. I called him he said I'm more then welcome to come stay with his family for as long as I need."

"So you're running away?" Peyton demands.

"I'm not running away," Haley snaps, "I'm doing what you thought was a good idea a few minutes ago. Surrounding myself with my family, my brother, my sister-in-law, and my niece."

"I said that was a good idea when I thought your brother lived in Tree Hill not two states away. Moving out of the state is what I would call running away..."

"Whatever Peyton, I'm taking control of my life and I'm choosing to move to Atlanta. You guys let Lucas moved to Charleston without saying anything can't you do the same to me?"

"No," Peyton shakes her head, "it's a different situation we didn't care about what Lucas did last year, we were mad at him."

"So you have to have everyone hate you for it to be okay to leave?" Haley asks, "well I'm sure Nathan will back me up in the move then."

"Nathan doesn't hate you Haley he..."

Peyton is cut off by Brooke hurrying into the bedroom, "Karen just called, there was an accident."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"So we've got the elusive basketball star of the Boston Celtics Nathan Scott on the show today," Sarah McDoyle announces over her audiences screams of delight, she was the Diane Sawyer of talk shows and she was the only one who had gotten an interview with basketball star Nathan Scott.

25-year-old Nathan Scott jogs toward her the sound of screaming fans reaching a dull roar, he was a private guy and never did these interviews but his manager thought it would be a good thing to do at least one before the season started. She hugs Sarah, a petite blonde, like he's known her forever instead of the three days since they'd met face to face for the first time.

Sarah takes her seat and motions for Nathan to do the same, smiling as she patiently waits for Nathan's fans to quiet their screams. Once it's fallen silent though she turns and smiles at Nathan, "so I can't believe you're actually sitting in front of me. I must say I feel enormously privileged to you agreeing to come on the show today, I must confess that I never thought you'd actually agree to it. We had a whole back up plan and everything..."

Nathan laughs and makes a motion to get up out of his chair, "well then..." He laughs again as he settles back into his chair, "nah, I'm just playin'."

"But seriously, you're not known to give interviews, we're glad to have you."

"I'm glad to be here Sarah, I've got to say that interviews aren't exactly my thing but you're so gorgeous I couldn't resist."

"Wow did you hear that ladies?" Sarah asks fanning herself, "the _People_ nominated hottest bachelor just called me gorgeous do you want to set the wedding date now or wait til we know each other better?" Sarah teases.

"Last time I checked you were a happily married woman and I was not the marrying type," Nathan responds with a smirk.

"Oh do you hear that ladies?" At Sarah's words a groan goes around the female portion of the audience. "Maybe you just haven't met the right women yet?" Sarah asks.

"You know that's what people tell me," Nathan states, "but I enjoy my life the way it is. Even if I have to constantly battle the media about what trouble I have and have not gotten myself into. They like to take my misdeeds and run with them..."

"Is that so?" Sarah asks, "well I've set up a couple of questions about the gossip that's going around or has at some point gone around with you in the past. Maybe we could play a little game of fact or fiction."

"Sure," Nathan nods, "my life is an open book and I'll tell you anything you'd like to know. So long as it's something I want to tell you." Nathan delivers the last part with a wink.

"Okay, okay," Sarah laughs, "so we'll start off easy you were born and raised in a tiny town on the North Carolina coastline?"

"Fact," Nathan nods, "Tree Hill, North Carolina."

"So rumor has it that Lucas Roe, point guard for the LA Lakers is your half-brother."

"Fact."

"Care to elaborate?" Sarah questions.

"There's not a whole lot to it," Nathan responds. "Same dad, we grew up in the same town but beyond that there's not much to tell."

"The tabloids seem to think that there's a deep rivalry between the two of you, is it true?"

"Maybe a little. When we were younger we definitely had a lot of stuff going on but now it doesn't seem to matter, when we play against each other we each bring out best games we don't hold back but I won't say I hate the guy." Nathan responds simply, it was true so much time had passed that he hardly ever gave another thought to Lucas, sure they'd fought all the time in high school but eventually even Nathan had gotten tired of the fighting and they'd spent their senior year playing basketball."

"Despite the fact that you refuse to commit now," Sarah winks at Nathan, "you were married once upon a time, right?"

Nathan nods, "yes. My high school girlfriend and I got married just out of high school, I was the basketball star she was a cheerleader it was a match made in high school heaven. But out in the real world it didn't cut it."

"Ah, young love," Sarah sighs.

Nathan laughs, "I don't know if either one of us would tell you now that we were in love back in high school. Once we hit college we realized we were totally wrong for each other and Peyton and I separated on good terms, she still calls me up whenever she wants tickets to one of our games."

"So tell me there's really no special girl in your life?" Sarah questions.

"I thought we were playing fact or fiction?" Nathan asks.

Sarah waves her hand brushing the conversation off that easily, "you're the top hottest bachelor according to _People_ so of course everyone in this room is wondering if there's honestly no one special in your life."

Nathan shakes his head, "there really isn't. I'm enjoying my life, the tabloids have called me...what...a playboy? If that means that I'm out there enjoying the life that I've earned then yeah I'm a playboy. Basketball is my life, I worked hard to get my spot on the Celtics and I work hard to stay in shape physically but when I'm not doing either of those things I'm enjoying my life. My managers try telling me that I'm giving myself a bad reputation but I'm not going to apologize for being young, hot and single."

"Wow," Sarah stares stunned at Nathan, "I'm not sure we've ever had a guest on here that honest, but I like it. It works on you."

"That's good to know," Nathan nods, "because Lynia, my manager, is probably having a fit right now."

"Well, good luck with that," Sarah smirks. "But thanks for taking time out of your schedule to be here with us, coming up we have Haley James-Keller she's just coming off her headlining tour and she's going to fill us in on what it's like to be mother, wife and one-half of the act she forms with her husband Chris Keller. That's all coming up, stay with us after this brief commercial break."

"I'm going to kick your ass Nathan," Lynia is waiting just off stage.

"Language!" A young girl who can't be more then three scolds before Nathan can respond.

Nathan glares, "what is this? The Sarah McDoyle Show daycare?" He glances around and his eyes land on two other children, one looking identical to the one standing before him and the other slightly younger.

"It's Haley James-Keller's kids," Lynia states, "they're going on stage with her. _They're_ good for her image, unlike Mr. I'm-not-going-to-apologize-for-being-young-hot-and-single."

"Listen Lynia, I don't have to take this shit..."

"Language!"

Nathan glares at the child before continuing, "I don't give a damn what my image is because when it comes down to it people pay to see me come play basketball."

"Nathan," Lynia has a look in her eye that Nathan recognizes as one that indicates that he won't be getting off the hook that easily.

"Fine, what do you want me to do to correct this?"

"There's a benefit tonight for some charity," Lynia states, "while you're in New York City you might as well take advantage of it."

"Fine, whatever..."

"And I want you to take Morgan Bella..."

"No way, I draw the line there I'm not going to be seen with that pure as snow pop princess," Nathan shakes his head, "it's not happening."

"Listen her people got in touch with me, she's landed a roll in an edgier movie then she's used to, they want her to go out with you to help promote it."

"Oh hell..."

"Language!" Both young girls state it this time.

"Will someone get these damn kids away?" Nathan announces loudly before turning back to Lynia, "whatever Lyn. If you can get these damn kids away from me and keep me in a kid free environment for the rest of the weekend I will take the pretty pictures with Morgan Bella."

"Good," Lynia nods her head as she glances in disdain at the children she's faced with, but before she has to take action their mother swoops in.

Haley James-Keller has a flock of make-up and hair people following her, "I'm so sorry. Their nanny is running an errand for me, they'll be out of your way in now time."

"Whatever," Nathan shrugs, "can we go?"

"Limo is out front," Lynia responds, "change and I'll meet you out there."

* * *

With a final groan Nathan rolls off of the chesty blonde under him, "I've got to shower." 

"I could join you," the woman trails a well manicured finger down Nathan's.

"We're done here," Nathan states getting off the bed.

"No fun," the blonde pouts, sitting up in bed and not bothering to cover her naked body in the process she saunters over wrapping an arm around Nathan's neck before moving toward her pile of clothes.

* * *

Nathan takes a deep breath, he was free of his "date" 18-year-old Morgan Bella was not the type of girl he was used to being around., she'd been acting since she was 14 and the only thing the tabloids had on her was the one time she'd worn an ugly dress to an awards ceremony. Definitely not his kind of girl, and if he was going to have to listen to her go on about the little basketball knowledge she had he was going to need some serious alcohol in his blood stream, and quickly. 

"Ow, Chris, come on," Nathan vaguely recognizes the voice of Haley James-Keller as he walks toward the bar. His curiosity gets the better of him and he stops and glances around his gaze finally lands not far away where he recognizes Chris Keller but can't actually see Haley.

"What you don't want your husband to touch you now?" Chris is obviously drunk and his words are low and threatening. "It's okay for you to walk around like a slut in that dress and let any other guy touch you but your husband..."

"That's the director of the charity of event," Haley's voice shakes, "I couldn't not..."

"Whatever, I should have expected this when I married a nothing piece of trash," Chris raises his hand and for a minute to Nathan it looks like he's going to hit Haley but he shoves away from her and walks quickly in the opposite direction.

Haley them emerges from the corner that she's been hidden by and her eyes immediately lock on Nathan's she closes the gap between them, "I'm so sorry baby."

"What?"

"I'm sorry that I put you through everything."

"I don't...none of this is any of my business," Nathan shakes his head attempting to move away from Haley but he seems to be stuck in place.

"I love you," Haley's hand is cool on Nathan's face.

"I don't even know you..." Nathan shakes his head but he can't deny the feeling in his heart.

"I need you to forgive me Nathan, I need you to come back to me..." Tears slip down Haley's cheeks as she says the words.

"Come on," Chris appears and grips Haley's arm tightly.

She immediately grabs onto Nathan's hand but Chris pulls too hard, "I need you to fight for me, to fight for us." Before the words are even out of her mouth Chris has drug Haley away and around the corner.

"Haley," Nathan calls out, "Haley!"

* * *

"I've been such an idiot," Haley stands in a corner of Nathan's hospital room, tears stream down her cheeks as she talks in a low hushed tone with Peyton. "Brooke was right, I pushed him away so that I wouldn't have to talk about my problems and he's going to die and I...Peyton I don't know what I'll do without him." 

"We don't know if he's going to die," Peyton attempts to soothe, "the doctor says if he wakes up then there's a good chance that he'll come through this just fine."

"It's been two days," Haley sobs, "the doctor says that the longer he goes without waking the worse his chances of waking up are."

"Haley, you've been here for 48 hours straight, why don't you go back to the hotel and get some rest?" Peyton suggests.

"No way," Haley shakes her head, "I can't leave him."

"Just for a couple of hours," Peyton urges, "I'll stay right here with him, he won't be alone and I'll call you if anything changes. You being here sobbing isn't going to help him, just go get some rest."

Haley sighs, "you're right." She walks over to the bedside and taking a seat the chair by his bed she takes his hand, "I'm so sorry baby." Gently she places a kiss to his knuckles, "I'm sorry that I put you through everything." With her free hand Haley gently touches Nathan's face leaning carefully over him, "I love you." Softly she kisses his forehead before whispering, "I need you to forgive me Nathan, I need you to come back to me..." A fresh round of tears are brought on by her own words as she gently lets go of Nathan's hand and walks over toward Peyton who wraps her arms tightly around Haley's shoulder.

"Come on, I'll walk you out to the parking lot and then come right back here."

Haley nods but before she moves away from the foot of her bed she whispers fiercely, "I need you to fight for me, to fight for us."

"Haley," the first time the sound leaves Nathan's mouth Haley freezes she's to afraid to turn around, afraid that her mind is playing cruel tricks on her. But when, "Haley" obviously comes out of Nathan's mouth for a second time she moves quickly out of Peyton's embrace and is once again at Nathan's side.

"Nathan," Haley grabs his hand tightly hovering over him, and her knees almost buckle when his eyes flutter open. "Oh God, Nathan."

"What happened?"

"There was an accident..." Haley trails, "I thought you were going to die. Nathan. I don't know what I would have done. I'm so sorry, so sorry for everything I was dumb...I was an idiot...I'm so sorry..."

"Haley slow down..." Nathan requests softly.

"I'm gonna go get a doctor," Peyton quietly slips out of the hospital room.

"I know you probably never want to forgive me, I've put you through so much lately that it's not fair to even ask you..." Haley's crying openly again and she can hardly even look at Nathan.

"Hey," Nathan gently squeezes her hand, his words are gentle and soothing and Haley finally looks up at him. "I had this dream that you were never a part of my life, that we'd just gone through life not knowing each other and I'm so glad that that's not what happened to us. If you need to take your time then fine. If you still want to get divorced then that's okay too. But I'm not going to regret any time we've spent together because you're a part of my life...you're a part of me. And even if we're over I know I'm a better person for the time we had together."

"I love you," Haley wraps her arms around Nathan and buries her head in his neck still crying and unable to say more.

* * *

A.N. So this chapter seemed to come easily to me...but it came out a bit cheesier then I expected but overall I'm pretty happy with it. So I know you're mad that the last chapter was a cliffhanger but I thought I'd make up for it by updating today...and I know that today is sort of a cliff hanger but rest assured everything will be answered in the next chapter because I believe it might very well be the last! 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

A.N. So I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter...I got some lovely reviews thank you so much! Also, yes I know you were thrown off at first in the last chapter what was kind of my intent :P Anyway this is my last chapter for this story, thank you sooo sooo much for bearing with me through this story! I love you all dearly for it. Also at the end of this story I am putting the first page of a story that's idea kind of came to do me today...Another Naley...mostly because I love Naley with a touch of Brucas and maybe some Jeyton as well.

* * *

"Haley," Nathan's voice startles Haley out of her thoughts, she'd been sitting in Nathan's hospital room silently while he slept just hours after coming out of the coma. 

"Nathan," Haley stands and moves toward his bed, "it's one in the morning you should be asleep. Doctors orders."

"The doctor told me to rest," Nathan responds, "I'm laying here. I'm resting, but I'm not tired. But you've got to be, Peyton told me you've been here for the last two days. You should go home and get some rest."

Haley shakes her heard, "I know I should but I just can't bring myself to go."

Nathan gently touches Haley's face and for the first time in months she doesn't flinch away, "if I'd know that getting in an accident would result in you letting me touch you I would have let myself get hit by a drunk driver weeks ago."

"Nathan," Haley's voice cracks as she leans closer to him her head resting gently against his, their lips only inches apart, the closest they have been in longer then either of them can remember.

Nathan takes this as a sign of encouragement, before if they'd gotten this close she would have pushed away to put distance between them. He's glad for the morphine they have pumped him with so that the movement it takes to pull Haley closer to him doesn't hurt and slowly, gently, he kisses Haley. His fingers tangle lightly in her hair as he gives into the side of him that's been yearning for this kiss since she'd come back from New York, everything is so clear in that moment as they both give into the kiss. It's all so familiar that when Haley pulls away shaking it throws Nathan having almost forgotten their lost weeks.

"I'm sorry Nathan," Haley's crying again and she's put the distance between them that Nathan has come to hate. "I...I wanted it to be better. But no matter what I do I can't get _him_out of my head, I want to be with you but it just...it makes me physically sick to even go there..."

Nathan has his own tears now, "Haley I love you and if you aren't ready for this then I can wait. I told you already if I have to wait for you I will, if you want it to really be over them you need to tell me now."

"I..." Haley's voice quivers as she sinks into the chair that's just behind her, "I love you Nathan. But I can't be your wife."

"Okay," it's hard but Nathan nods.

"But I don't want to go through with the divorce either," Haley bites her lip.

"Then I need you to tell me what you want to do," Nathan responds gently.

"I'm going to start going to a councilor, I was stupid to not start going before, I need to get my head screwed back on in the right way. Get my heart in the right place."

"Okay," Nathan nods, "what about us."

* * *

"Lucas what the hell are you doing here?" Nathan demands from his hospital bed a week later, Lucas who hadn't suffered the internal damages that Nathan had suffered through had been released from the hospital the day after the accident, leaving Nathan alone in the hospital for another week but with a constant stream of visitors. 

"What, not happy to see me?" Luke asks stopping in the doorway.

"You promised me that you would pick Haley up from her first counseling appointment, she needs you to be there," Nathan snaps furiously.

"No," Lucas shakes his head, "she needs _you _to be there."

"Newsflash, I've been condemned to this damn bed," Nathan retorts.

"Wrong little brother," Lucas shakes his head, "the doctor is drawing up your release forms. He says you can be out of here within the hour, which is nice since Haley's appointment is over in an hour and it just so happens to be in the buildings across the street."

"You're serious?" Nathan asks.

Lucas nods, "I even come bringing clothes for the previously condemned. Because dude there's no way you're going to win your wife back in those sweats."

"She told you what's going on?" Nathan questions.

Lucas nods again, "I think it's a good idea."

"It was her idea," Nathan responds, "and it's a hell of a lot better then a divorce. We're taking things back to the beginning of our relationship. Which is kind of cool I guess, we get to have a second first date and everything else when she's ready."

"You think it'll work?" Lucas asks as he deposits the bag on Nathan's bed.

Nathan nods, "it'll work because we want it to work. There's not much more it is there?"

* * *

Nathan settles himself onto a bench surrounding a fountain, Lucas has just dropped him off after having been released from the hospital with orders from the doctor to take it easy. He scans the crowd of people, the councilors office was in a building with other businesses and there were many people hurrying to and fro but it doesn't take him long to find Haley in the crowd. She wears a simple pair of jeans a pink t-shirt and it's obvious to Nathan that she'd been crying. Carefully standing he makes his way over to her before she even notices him and he can't help but smile as she jumps and then smiles at him. 

"Nathan, wh-what are you doing here? You didn't escape from the hospital did you?"

Nathan shakes his head, "I'm here, the doctor signed my release papers. I was looking to celebrate and was wondering if you'd have lunch with me?"

"Like a date?" Haley asks smiling.

Nathan nods, "yeah, like a date."

Haley's smile grows, "I'd love to."

* * *

A.N. That's it. What do you guys think? Perfect ending? Crappy ending? Review and let me know! Also read the first page of my new story and tell me what you think. If you think I should continue with it or not? Thanks for sticking with me you guys I hope it was worth your time!

* * *

"What's she look like?" Nathan Scott demands from his brother, "I hate blind dates dude you know I do, I can't believe you got me to agree to do this." 

"She's beautiful, she used to be a model," Lucas responds as he navigates the streets of the development he was unfamiliar with.

"Used to be?" Nathan asks skeptically, "so she got ugly? Or fat? Cause we all know that I don't do ugly or fat."

"No, she had a baby," Lucas shakes his head and can almost see the look if disgust cross his twin brother's face.

"I definitely don't do kids," Nathan retorts almost immediately from the backseat of Lucas Mercedes.

"You sound like such an idiot Nathan," Brooke Davis, Lucas' fiancé and long time girlfriend, turns around in her seat to glare at him. "Haley's super nice if you'd just give her a chance."

"I don't know why you even had to drag me into all of this anyway," Nathan rolls his eyes, "she's your friend."

"That's right," Brooke arches an eyebrow, "she is my friend and you better be nice or I swear to God I'll...oh, Luke it's the blue house on the right here."

Nathan sighs and leans back as Brooke quickly glances in her mirror and fixes her already perfect hair and make-up, he was more then a little used to Brooke's bossy nature and threats. They known each other for almost ten years, since Brooke had been a cheerleader for the Tar Heels when he and Lucas had played college ball together. Lucas and Brooke had broken up and gotten back together more times then anyone could care to count, mostly due to the stress of Lucas' constant traveling when he and Nathan started playing for the New York Knicks and Brooke's own world travel schedule due to her model career. But Brooke had quit modeling to open her own design company and during a fight with Lucas had told him that they were either breaking up for good or getting married, and Lucas had proposed two days later.

Nathan looks around the neighborhood, it wasn't a place he'd ever consider settling down in. It was to suburban. Too white picket fence and 2.5 kids for his liking. He preferred his penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park. The quiet life was so not for him, that's what his brother wanted. To eventually retire early and settle down and have a family with Brooke, hell they would probably buy a house that looked almost identical to the other houses in this neighborhood. They'd have their boring life while Nathan was out living the life of a star.

"Haley!" Brooke bounds out of the car almost as soon as it rolls to a stop in front of a pale blue house with white wicker furniture scattered in the front yard, his eyes land first on a small blonde girl playing in a bucket of water. But it doesn't take his gaze long to seek out the woman who's standing awkwardly in front of Brooke and he can't help but stare openly at her, as a pro-basketball player he'd seen a lot of beautiful women but none of them compared to the woman standing there. She had a light auburn hair that had, Nathan assumed, been arranged in a pony at the top of her head but most of it had tumbled to her shoulders, she wore jeans that hung extra low on her hips that Nathan had to attribute to the fact that the bottom half was practically soaking and an old NYU t-shirt that was faded and bleached in certain sports. the one thing that Nathan really can't help but notice is the gorgeous, yet embarrassed, smile she wears across her face.


End file.
